


Care to be my Ganimard?

by FanFiction_Artist_Prototype



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akechi Goro Redemption, Good Akechi Goro, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-10-18 15:13:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20641244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanFiction_Artist_Prototype/pseuds/FanFiction_Artist_Prototype
Summary: After reading the book 'Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief' at the start of April and finding the similarities in name between the main character and his persona and the shared occupations between them, Akira can't help but get a few laughs here and there.But, when an esteemed detective declares essential war on his band of thieves he finds the similarities even more striking and endeavours to test how far the detective Prince is willing to go to solve a mystery.And no, he isn't thirsty Futaba.





	Care to be my Ganimard?

**Author's Note:**

> So, I love the npc newspaper girl in p5- her interactions with you if you speak to her for the first time before everybody 100% confirms you're the delinquent are much friendlier than if your first interaction is after and she treats you like a friend and ah! Atlas give her a name you cowards I love her!
> 
> Also I know the start seems kinda odd but it's a headcanon of mine that the protagonist gets accosted all the time when they try and do stuff like check out a book from the library and that some really uptight and rude students would want him out of their school and would try and 'blame' him for things.  
But obviously at the start of the game it'd be hard bc he has alibi's with Ann and Ryuji and later on he has Makoto and Haru backing him up as two credible sources.

Akira wasn't seen as 'studious' by many people. He was a delinquent with a criminal record after all. The only people that were likely to believe you if you said he was were his friends and his teacher, Kawakamai-sensei and that was because she had access to his old school record.

And because of that people were even more surprised to see him read for pleasure. The reaction alone was one of the main reasons he didn't frequent the school library often.

However newspaper girl, a fellow second year and sole member of the schools newspaper club who haunted the second floor of Shujin Academy and often acted as his well of information on school happenings who he somehow has never gotten the name of, really wanted to check out a book but the last time she'd gone the student librarian had been 'intimidating'.

That was how he found himself helping out his... friend? Colleague? Compatriot? Mutual partner? 

The gist of the situation anyway was that he ended up in the library, standing next to the girl as she handed over the book to be checked out with trepidation, with stares landing on him from every direction.

The librarian wasn't the usual one, the usual was a timid first year and the current one looked about third year. He had one hand stuffed in his pocket while the other held his phone that he scrolled through.

He was in the middle of reading through a text from Takemi when his attention was peaked: "I'm sorry but that book is reference only, you can't take it out."

Confused he looked up from his phone, having previously read and taken out the book his friend was attempting to take out. He quickly understood however when he spotted the smug look on the third years face. "Besides why would you want this book anyway? Wouldn't your time be better spent finding friends other than the school delinquent?"

"And wouldn't your time be better spent not lying to people an keeping your opinions to yourself?" He spoke up when he saw the girl floundering next to him and whether it was his use of actual words towards the older girl or the fact that he wasn't being his usually overly polite self but something made the girl and surrounding students stop and look over at him.

"Excuse me?! You little-"

"You're excused," he kept a blank face, "I've taken out ' The Illusory Popess' numerous times, it isn't a reference only book- it can't be considered one given the debates surrounding its credibility."

Stuffing both hands in his pockets he maintained a composed stance and look, "And who the two of us are friends with shouldn't matter to you so if you don't like it just ignore us."

"Whatever. Just wait till the teachers find out that you're harassing me Kurusu, you won't be on your high horse then."

"Kurusu isn't harassing you though! I'm sick of you and other people trying to get him in trouble like that!" The smaller girl practically slammed the book on the librarians desk, "C'mon Kurusu we're leaving. It seems everybody here thinks acting like Kamoshida is alright."

Akira didn't get much of a chance to reply before he was being dragged by the crook of the arm out of the library and down to the second floor where the lonely newspaper club room resided.

He stood awkwardly as his would be saviour paced back and forth complaining about other people and how rude they were. "You're a lovely person though, so why do they think they can just do stuff like that! It's not fair!"

"It's fine-"

"It's not though."

Sighing, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere he changed topics, "How's your internship with Ohya going?"

The question made the girl pause, mind shifting to accommodate the new change of pace and topic. "It's been fun. She was almost always drunk at the beginning but over time she's gotten better." She sighed, "Though she's still going to crossroads every weekend. At this rate Lala Chan's going to give me a job as well."

"That's just how she is, as long you're getting stuff out of it. Besides, I'm sure Lala Chan wouldn't mind the extra help."

His friend nodded, finally seeming to calm down as she stopped her pacing and slumped into the closest chair: newspaper drafts drifting around the table top nearby.

"How's your 'project' been coming along by the way?"

"Brilliantly."

-*-

_At the start of April Akira had been desperate to get Morgana off of his back; the cat not once stopping about how he needed to read a book from the school library. _

_After he had finally caved and visited he'd settled on Arsène Lupin Gentleman-Thief only to discover a striking similarity between the name of his persona and the protagonist. As well as a striking similarity between his new 'occupation' and that of Lupin's._

_After reading some more of the library books as more people joined their merry band of thieves he realised a trend, all the phantom thieves personas held close resemblance to an ancient 'rouge' or 'grey' character._

_He was Arsène- fictional gentleman thief._

_Morgana was Zorro- fictional phantom thief_

_Ryuji was Captain Kidd- William Kidd's title name._

_Ann was Carmen- fictional femme feral_

_Yusuke was Gomon- Historical phantom thief_

_It was quite interesting to figure out. What was even more interesting was seeing Akechi Goro, esteemed Detective Prince the second, declare war on the Phantom Thieves of Hearts in a live studio show that he'd had the fortune to be at._

_ **"What's your opinion on the Phantom Thieves?"** _

_ **"I think they're currently doing more than the police."** _

_He remembered the audience question being directed at him and remembered the ripple of murmurs that had spread through his schoolmates at his answer, whispers along the lines of 'Of course the delinquent would side with the criminals.' spreading like wildfire._

_He'd ignored them, having been far too preoccupied with raising an eyebrow at the detective prince's look of curiosity._

_Whether it was his response or his returning of a somewhat judgemental state that had sparked Akechi's interest but whatever it had been it had caused the detective to approach him with a deal._

** _"It's not often that people are so willing to share their opinions around me. I hope that we can have more conversations in the future?"_ **

** _"If the opportunity arises then I'd love to."_ **

_After that he'd come into contact with the older boy at the train station a few times before he'd come up with an idea that he knew if he posed to his friends would be shot down before it was fully out of his mouth._

_Being in that situation he'd gone to one of the only people he knew wouldn't ask too many questions but would help him all the same._

_ **"Oh, Kurusu. Do you have anymore questions regarding the Madarame case?"** _

_ **"Actually, I have a project I want to work on but can't think of a way to actually put it into motion."** _

_ **"Oh...well I'm happy to help you get information if you need-"** _

_ **"I was actually hoping you'd be willing to let me bounce ideas off of you?"** _

_ **"Of-Of course!"** _

_His unlikely friend, the sole member of the newspaper club, had invited him to her club room where they'd spent the entirety of lunch time working out his plan. His plan being how he was going to wind up Akechi Goro without being caught._

_Of course, he didn't tell her who he was sending the messages to, just that he and his mysterious recipient shared a likeness with two characters and he wanted to get this recipient's attention and get their brain working trying to figure it out._

_They'd played a round of twenty questions in regards to the topic and had eventually they'd come to the agreement that to avoid any quick conclusions the notes had to be typed. And the riddles should start off easy and progressively get more random._

_Then they'd stumbled upon the problem of how to get the message to the recipient without any witnesses._

** _"...! Kurusu I've just had an idea."_ **

** _"I'm all ears."_ **

** _"Morgana, your cat is called that right? He's pretty well trained right?"_ **

** _"Yes... to both questions."_ **

** _"Well, does the 'recipient' know what Morgana looks like?"_ **

** _"...No. Not that I know of. Are you suggesting that I use Morgana as a delivery service?"_ **

** _"Well I mean... as long as the other doesn't know Morgana belongs to you and you remove his collar when you I don't know... drop them off outside the others house? Cats always find their ways home after all."_ **

** _"You're a genius."_ **

_After that lunch meeting he'd left the club room, Morgana quietly howling over his shoulder how much of an idiot he was. The 'not a cat' cat hadn't complained though when he'd tucked the first little note under a ribbon._

* * *

Goro was starting to develop a headache as he lay the newest note next to its predecessors on his desk in the police office. He didn't have a fancy office but as a young detective and a high school student he'd been given a semi-private space in case he needed to get away from it all.

The irony was lost on everybody else.

Rubbing a hand across his face he dropped the bag of cat treats, that he had started to keep on his person, into the top draw of his desk.

Slumping into his chair he read through the notes in order.

Note 1: Care to be my Ganimard?

Note 2: What does Maurice have in common with the detective?

Note 3: I'm too high up to reach but in the underbelly, what am I?

Note 4: What does the Greenfield Papyrus have in common with August?

And the newest one, that returned to the same theme as the first two notes, note 5: A watch, a wedding ring, a make-up case who am I?

It was such a ridiculous set up for a riddle. Three objects then who am I? It didn't make any sense unless you put in the amount of effort he did.

When his first note had come in via cat mail he'd looked up the name Ganimard as much as he could, the only viable thing that made sense was the name of a fictional detective from a 19th-20th century French novel series.

That had prompted his answer to the second 'riddle' to be Leblanc- Maurice being the author's first name and the cafe being his newest haunt.

That had lead him to question whether or not it was Sae-san messing with him. That had been abruptly shut off though when he'd discovered her to be allergic to felines.

But that meant that whoever was writing the notes had a idea of his likes and dislikes as well as his weekly routine as the cat always showed up with a new message at the same time every time he submitted his answer to the cat who always seemed to know when he'd figured it out.

His next thought was Shido. The man probably got off on feeling like he held power over Goro and making him feel paranoid of being watched and studied was probably the man's newest way of trying to get under his skin.

But again, that didn't work out because some of the riddles were answered by the Phantom Thieves targets. Note 3's answer was Kaneshiro Junya, a criminal too high up to of been caught by normal means yet a prominent figure in the underbelly of Tokyo.

Note 4's answer was of course Medjed, the Greenfield Papyrus was the only mention of the Egyptian deity and August proved to be the month that Medjed was 'taken down' though that in itself was an interesting turn of events considering what he knew of Shido's plan revolving around Medjed.

Note 5 stumped him though. He had a feeling, a certainty, that it related to the first two notes hinting at some buried deep references in Leblanc's work. Which meant his mysterious sender had a high probability of just wanting people to read old foreign literature.

But on the other end of the spectrum his cat mail had always been accompanied by odd grumbling nearby always with the same voice: which made no sense because he never spotted a person. Which made him think his cat mail had links to the metaverse.

And in kind, a link to one of his original theories to do with the Phantom Thieves. The thieves were metaverse users and one of them was using an Arsène Lupin analogy to get his attention.

_'Clever.'_ he found himself thinking, '_Clever but pointless.'_

Collecting the notes together he shoved them in the top draw also before digging out the appropriate case files from his briefcase. He needed research on Okumura before the thieves got to him and that meant he was going to have to put aside this would be game of cat and mouse for now.

Maybe Kurusu could offer his input? The boy was one of his prime suspects for the position of Phantom Thief and from what little he'd seen of the boy beneath the polite facade this was exactly the kind of thing he'd do.

-*-

"Honey I'm home~"

Looking up from his coffee he heard boss give the regular huff of resigned amusement that accompanied most of Kurusu's antics. Glancing towards the boy he swore he saw a familiar flicker of black tail but pushed it aside.

He'd never seen a cat with Kurusu before no need to start getting paranoid now. "You're home late, would you like a bath or dinner first?" Over time the response had become familiar to Goro.

At first it had seemed like a pathetic ploy to seem friendly but as he became resigned to saying variations of it each time he found he couldn't help but find a small part of himself enjoying the familiarity of it.

Kurusu's smile every time he played along also spurred him on to continue. He told himself it was because if his theory was correct then it would all be beneficial in the long run and if he was wrong then...maybe after all the business with Shido was done he could have a friend.

The signature smile crawled onto the youngers face as he placed his bag gently on the stool to his right and slid into the stool on Goro's right invading his personal space with such ease that Goro almost forgot it was a foreign action.

"I think there's a third option there honey, you're not holding out on me right?"

Behind his glasses the boys grey eyes sparkled and he only stopped himself from smiling because he caught the twitch of his lips in the reflection in the glass. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Of course."

And like that Kurusu slid out of his personal space and stood up, catching his bag by the handle and sauntering up the stairs like he owned the place. Goro would be lying if he said he wasn't jealous that the other could be so comfortable in a place that wasn't their own when he still couldn't sleep a full consecutive eight hours in his own flat.

The regular elderly couple filtered out by the time Kurusu made his way back down the stairs. The bag was deposited safely upstairs and the school uniform of the infamous Shujin Academy hidden away upstairs.

It was replaced with a jumper and jeans that was quickly hidden away under an apron that Goro had become accustomed to seeing on Kurusu. The younger boy had an air that suited cafe fashion.

Boss made an off hand comment about leaving Kurusu with his friend and not forgetting to close up, causing Goro to realise how long he had in fact been in his haunt.

Seven o'clock meant he'd been reading his newest copy of Arsène Lupin's adventures for the past three hours while Kurusu did whatever it was he did. It was aggravating slightly, to think he'd been forced to wait that long to find out an answer to his multitude of questions.

"Were you doing yourself up just for me?"

The boy laughed, and Goro hoped that his theory was wrong though at this point it was improbable that it was. "There's nobody else to impress is there?" His statement was coupled with a raised eyebrow and a flirtatious wink before the teen was turning and making two cups of coffee.

"So how's work been Mr.Detective?"

Digging in his pocket for a scrap piece of paper, he fashioned a impromptu bookmark out of the bookshop receipt. Putting away his book he took out his notes folder before answering.

"Rather stressful. I've actually got a query to put to you, Kurusu?"

"Oh?" The other didn't sound too interested but Goro had learnt that that was Kurusu's way of not letting people know just how interested he really was. "What's the query?"

"I've been getting these strange notes for awhile now."

"Creepy fan mail?" The interruption was timed with the placement of his coffee and he nodded his thanks as Kurusu leant across from him on the counter peering at the upside down notes.

"One could only hope. If it was creepy fan mail I'd be worried I had a stalker."

"How so?"

"The sender has a rather unique method of delivery." He watched Kurusu's face as he continued, searching for every minute response, "A note is tucked under a ribbon around a cat's neck and the cat appears either at my flat or at the station depending on my schedule that day."

Either Kurusu was clear of suspicion or Goro wasn't giving him enough credit for his acting capabilities because his face was the mask of genuine surprise. "That's... an interesting method? If I were you I would definitely look into the stalker possibility."

"Yes...but the notes are all rather...how would you put it? Playful? Teasing perhaps? They're almost like banter between friends and some of them are completely random while others relate to the Phantom Thieves and the newest one came in today and completely stumped me."

"This is the new one?" Suspicious thoughts rose when he noticed that Kurusu pointed at the newest note even though Goro hadn't put them in order, "It's the least crumpled of all the notes and the paper looks considerably lighter than the others as well."

Slightly stunned he wasn't aware of his own mumbling, "That was quite the impressive deduction." He cleared his throat, "But yes, you're correct. That's the newest note. The first two hinted at the literary series Arsène Lupin, that's a-"

"French novel series from the early 1900's. I've read some of them." Kurusu again put another nail in his coffin and Goro filed the information away for later examination.

"I had a feeling it would have something to do with that series when I read the list."

"Oh?" That was an interesting statement.

"A watch, referring to Lupin's first meeting with Sherlock Holmes- where he steals his watch. A wedding ring refers to one of his shorter stories where he poses as a jeweller and swaps two rings so that a woman isn't divorced: saving her dignity. And a make-up case probably refers to Lupins skill with make-up."

"Very astute of you...I take it you're a super fan?" He watched as Kurusu kept his cool behind the counter.

"My dad was big on foreign literature, Lupin was one of the last books he gave me... I guess I just had to find out why he loved it so much and got," Kurusu's laugh isn't half forced and Goro almost finds it sickening how genuine the other boy is, "Well I got attached really? It was my Dad's favourite and now it's mine."

* * *

** _Later, when he joins the phantom thieves, and he finds out that it's Kurusu's cat that's been delivering his messages, he reflects on all that the younger had told him._ **

** _How different they were, to think that he would love something so much because of his father and Goro would hate so much because of his father._ **

** _But then, as he stood across from Kurusu- Akira by the point that he was holding a gun to his head- in the interrogation room he hesitates._ **

** _He thinks of the coy game that he had played, of the feeling of rivalry and companionship he had felt with his temporary leader, the foolish teen still sending messages and riddles long after his identity had been revealed to Goro._ **

** _He finds that he can't do it. Akira's eyes lock onto his and they aren't afraid. They're accepting, telling Goro that it's alright. He understands. And maybe he does._ **

** _Maybe the boy that Goro had spent the past few months chasing down did understand, it was his father that had landed Akira in Tokyo after all: he wasn't a stranger to injustice._ **

** _But not only that, It's the fight underneath the acceptance in his grey eyes. It had been in Goro's once. Now it's dirty and feral but Akira holds onto it like a treasured toy._ **

** _He lowers the gun, looking to the dead guard on the floor and realises that Akira didn't even flinch at it. He's seen Akira shoot shadows execution style before, and there is always a small display of disgust for his own actions._ **

** _It's this lack of emotion that causes Akechi to pull his phone out and exit the metaverse._ **

** _When he does Akira is sat there, one leg crossed over the other; smirk cocky and oh does Akechi want to smack him, but the look in his eyes is the same look his cognitive copy held and he finds his gun is still on the table between them._ **

** _Akira could reach for the gun and shoot him._ **

** _He doesn't. For that Goro is grateful._ **

** _"Well well dear detective, to what do I owe the pleasure?" It's cracked and wheezing but the comment is endearing._ **

** _"Nothing important, just an inquiry to your latest escapade, how did you do all that from within a cell?"_ **

** _He smiles, bloodied and Goro doesn't feel sick anymore at the genuineness of it, "You should know by now that I'm a gentleman and a gentleman never kisses and tells."_ **

** _Sae opens the door behind him, as is apparent by her and the guards shocked gasps and 'How did you get in's!? He simply turns his head to look at them, I'm chatting with my suspect, is there anything wrong with that?"_ **

** _Sae's eyes search his and when he winks and He can tell Akira smiles she's convinced._ **


End file.
